Patchwork Hitsuzen
by Deya Amaya
Summary: She would do everything in her power to make the brief visit of the world-hoppers very pleasant, and very fun. She would fix their Hitsuzen, even if she had to patch them up with miracles.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the sequel to my Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Fic _Dissonance_. It's not necessary to read _Dissonance_ or _Cracks in the mirror_ before you read this but it _will_ give you an idea about my writing style and answer some of your questions about my headcanon.. Might contain violence, gore, some suggestive content in the later chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tsubasa Chronicles. Although I do wish I owned Fai and Kuro and Syao and Kamui and Subaru...

 ** _Prologue_**

Brothers were unnecessary, Fird'U decided. Even one as Asher'Du who by all means older and thus should be wiser, was no more than a stupid, annoying, interrupting. . . .

Said brother was laughing and saying something about not breaking the strings.

Oh. The strings.

She relaxed her painful grip on the vibrant coloured strings and pulled gently, knotting almost absent mindedly. Sometimes she thought these were unnecessary too. . . These strings made up of human fate. Why did it have to be predetermined anyway? The deity of Eleadora had no fate, only cause and effect. Thus, fate was unnecessary. And so was she.  
The smooth strings passed through her fingertips, fluid as water. Even though her vacant amber eyes were useless, the strings sang to her touch.

Her brow furrowed as rough textures grazed her skin. She knew everyone's string, none were meant to be this rough. These strings belonged to someone else, someone born out of Eleadora.

Out of curiosity, she put away the other strings and only picked up the three that were unusually rough. Even as she concentrated on knowing their past, she already knew their future for as long as they were in Eleadora.

Wanderlust was in their nature, she observed. The many trials and ordeals they faced were extrordinary. Fird'U felt her eyes widen as the events of their last world played in her mind. She was no stranger to torture. But this. .. .. .

Slowly coming out of the reverie, she set her mind and started piecing together a plan in her mind. She would do everything in her power to make the brief visit of the world-hoppers very pleasant, and very fun. She would fix their Hitsuzen, even if she had to patch them up with miracles.

With her new determination, she tilted her head to where Asher'Du sat and watched her.  
"I need a favor."

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This is probably going to be the biggest fic I'm ever going to write o.o  
Disclaimer: All characters except the mute woman and the girl with brown hair belong to CLAMP!

They'd landed in an island this time. It was called the Isle of Elea. What was Elea? Syaoran's innocent question earned them looks that ranged from peculiar to outraged to straight out murderous. As it happens, Elea was the deity who watched over the isle. Among various other deity, he (or she, no one knew for sure) was the most powerful. The people in the island seemed to be more or less devoted to the dairy, as they referred to themselves as servents of Elea.

Syaoran's companions trailed a bit behind. The sky was overcast with dull gray clouds, letting a slow but persistent precipitation soak through the quiet city and its inhabitants. Syaoran asked around trying to secure a lodging for the night. They'd been cooped up in a hut quite a ways outside the city, healing injuries and catching up on lost sleep. A mute woman had offered them shelter as they dropped close to her home, bruised and bleeding everywhere. She lived on the meagre earnings she got from selling herbs. Those herbs she collected turned out to be useful in healing the shallow cuts and bruises littering Syaoran and Kurogane's body. Fai had healed on his own, once he could move enough to eat and drink. Kurogane still needed to get his ribs checked. Syaoran made a mental note to look for a hospital in the morning,  
But the most worry he had was for Fai.

Syaoran and Kurogane wore identical, dark and drab clothings, memories of their last world. Tattered and threadbare, they offered little protection against the drizzle. But the oversized coats did help to hide traces of their injury as Kurogane walked a few paces behind Syaoran, alert for any signs of danger. If nothing else, the previous world had taught them to never drop their guard.

Fai brought up the rear, getting soaked to the bone in his dark hoodie and jeans, rips showing his deathly pale skin. It reminded Syaoran of the previous world, perhaps the most hostile they'd ever been to, and the state they'd found the mage in.

Syaoran and Kurogane had burst in the sprawling underground maze of the research facility and found Fai after what felt like hours of frantic search. When they found him, Syaoran wished he'd listened to the Ninja and stayed behind. Nothing in the world could've prepared him for the sight that awaited.

Fai hung from numerous chains snaking along his limbs, as if his captor wasn't sure how many he could rip through. His bare torso leaked blood from an alarming number of cuts and bruises, new and old, deep and shallow. Syaoran had felt Kurogane stiffen in shock very like himself. But the older man had broken out of daze almost instantly and strode forward to cut him loose.

Syaoran could see that he wasn't dead, then. As the mage looked up through matted, blood darkened locks, Syaoran felt his relief, resilience and something that felt like resignation, all locked in one blue stare. He then fell unconscious in a heap on Kurogane, staying unconscious through their journey out of that world and to the Isle of Elea.

He never did describe what happened when he was kept imprisoned. Fai claimed this world had a peculiar balance of magic and it left him disoriented. Neither Syaoran nor Kurogane were bothered with it. But Syaoran hesitated. If Fai had suffered deep trauma from the torturing he endured, surely he'd want to spend more time resting, while he and Kurogane went looking around? But Fai had assured him that was unnecessary, supported by a disarmingly tender smile.

Syaoran trusted Fai with his very soul. But he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Fai wasn't quite alright. His suspicion grew with their proximity to the crowded part of the city. And as a small gathering of people came into their view-some sort of city square- Fai stepped on the breaks and refused to advance anymore.

Kurogane was running out of patience. His side was throbbing with a pain that seemed worse by the hour and he had no intention of standing around in the rain that kept increasingly stronger.

"What do you mean you can't get near them? They're just humans!", he snapped at the idiot who was hiding his face behind his sleeves, refusing to get any closer to the townspeople.

"But but Kuro-puu. . . Can't you smell it?", his blond eyes were round in confusion. "Surely Syaoran kun can, right?", he pleaded with the kid.

Syaoran was looking at Fai like he'd grown another head. "What do you mean by sme- oh!" Kurogane watched as understanding replaced confusion in him. "Ahh. . . So that's it!"

"Talk!", Kurogane barked.

Huddled under the shelter of a bus-stop, Syaoran gave them a crash course on pheromones, a unique characteristic of this world. The more he spoke the more confused Kurogane became. At the end of the lecture the stupid mage was looking a bit green around the gills.  
"So everyone in this world has pheromones, everyone, even us."  
"I thought that was just the reek of blood, sweat and herbs.", Fai winced.  
"You two are idiots," Kurogane declared. If this pheromone is so important then why is it only affecting the mage? Why not me and the kid?"  
"Well. . .", Syaoran trailed off, turning tomato red.  
Fai made an exasperated noise somewhere down his throat."That's because the pheromones only affect people who aren't romantically inclined towards someone. So. . . That means both of you can thank your princesses.", he finished with a quirked eyebrow.  
Now it was Kurogane's turn to blush and look away awkwardly.  
"This wouldn't normally be so bad. The pheromone scent is mild enough that the inhabitants of this country hardly notice it. But my vampire senses make the tiniest bit of smell into an overwhelming experience." Fai huffed. "So sorry, Kuro-pinta, but I'd rather stick to the outskirts of the city."

Sticking to the outskirts of the city sounded good enough, but wasn't very practical to their cause, which was to primarily gather knowledge. A small city like this was hardly appropriate for that. Besides, Kurogane grumbled that the healers of the hospital were not doing him any good. So despite his protests, Fai ended up in a shuttle that was scheduled to reach the capital city within ten hours.

For Fai's sake, Syaoran was dreading the ride. Sitting in close proximity of who knows how many people would probably make him sick. However, the problem offered it's own solution. The ticket selling woman at the gate was in her late twenties, pretty as a button and observant as well as compassionate. She noticed the slightly pinched expression in Fai's pale face and suggested seats in one of the back cars. They were old and less luxurious than the front cars. But the were slower and less crowded. Syaoran made sure to thank her enough times before the shuttle started to leave the station.

So now Fai was comfortably sitting in an empty car save for his travel companions. Finally he was able to take a breath in peace.

Or so he thought.

Somewhere along his journey across the worlds, Fai had decided that he quite liked the vehicle that was called train in some worlds, shuttle in this world. It wasn't as stiffling as aerplane or hovercrafts, nor claustrophobia-inducing as small motor cars. This shuttle had a rhythmic speed, the gaping windows of the old car letting in plenty of wind, whipping his hair off of his ponytail. The whole compartment lurched at times, but it wasn't too distracting. In fact, Syaoran and Kurogane's slow conversation seemed to blend with the background noises and Fai almost dozed off, his head resting on the side of a window. That's when his nose picked up the scent.

To call it "scent" would be a gross understatement though. In the space of a millisecond, the feeling had taken up all his senses, it seemed. It seemed like a solid punch in the gut. It was like being smothered in swaths of silk. It was like drowning in flowers. It was like falling from miles above.

It took a gargantum amount of conscious effort to wrench himself out of trance and regain the power of thought. Holding his breath, Fai peeked carefully out of the window. Caution was necessary. The shuttle-track ran dangerously close to the wilderness. Sticking out his head too far out could result in fatality.

Then he noticed the mass of brown waves spilling out from the next compartment and knew some incredibly stupid and/or reckless person had stuck their head out without any regards for safety at all. Any moment his or her hair could get snagged on a branch and their head could be snapped off.

Syaoran and Kurogane hadn't noticed anything amiss, and quietly continued to wonder if they needed any new clothes or if anything in Mokona's storage would go with this world's fashion. Syaoran clutched the drawstring bag covering the sleeping form in an unconscious gesture, his worry for the small creature leaking in his frown. Unnoticed, Fai slipped to the next compartment.

At first sight the compartment looked devoid of any occupants. However, a visual sweep found the brunette. Fai's eyes widened as he realized the person wasn't merely sitting next to an open window, but leaning precariously on the edge of an open door close to where he stood. The thought had barely finished registering in his mind when the shuttle lurched, and the swaying human figure toppled outwards.

Fall.  
Falling from a long, long way up.  
Deafening crunch of bones.  
Slick pool of blood growing growing growing around a tangle of blond tresses.

Death. He didn't know when he'd lunged at the open door, or how his fingers shot out to grasp the falling person (Fai. . . Don't fall. . . Again. . . Yuui couldn't take it he saw it in his dreams every night Fai falling falling fallingfallingfalling-)

Fai wasn't sure if his mind was still stuck in the past or just dreading the imminent future.  
He felt his vampire instincts take over purely without a single conscious thought on his part. He felt wind rushing around, whipping the fragrant hair around him. The wrist of the falling person almost slipping past his fingers. . . But at the last moment they seemed to have come to senses and damp, spindly fingers curled around his own. Fai pulled, maybe with more force than necessary. He back hit the wall across the doorway and a solid weight slammed into his chest, making him look down.

Bloodshot blue eyes looked up at him for a second before they rolled back and she slumped against him in a dead faint.

Fai sat back against the wall, the woman slumped on his lap. He greedily gulped air, for once not minding the traces of pheromone mixed in it. This isn't Fai. He told himself. He wasn't back at Valeria. This was the NOW. AND HE HAD TO WAKE UP.

Fai felt as if he was slapped with a frozen fist. The roaring command had come from his own mind but it didn't feel like his own self. Shaking out sweaty bangs from his eyes he looked down at the woman, properly this time.

She was clad in a teal striped men's shirt and nondescript denim, finished off with black converses. Wavy brown hair framed a round face. She was evidently a tourist. There was a bright leaflet featuring a vacation gateway poking out of the pouch around her waist. So she wasn't an inhabitant of the small port city the train had left from. Maybe she was from the capital? Her colourings and facial structure were similar to the people of this country.

But who was she? And why was she trying to kill herself like that? A fall from the shuttle tracks would result un a fall down a few hundred metres of rocky terrain, promising a painful death. He carefully examined her face. Day old tear tracks, no sign of abuse on her face or elsewhere on her body. The trauma was probably psychological, and recent.

Idly, he wondered if he should wake her up and ask if she needed his- their- assistance in some issue. Experience taught him that in the worlds they travelled, they tended to stumble upon people who needed help. The sooner they finished the act of assistance, the sooner they could get off that world. And Fai couldn't wait to get out of this world.

Maybe a harmless little push would rouse her. Fai bent over her her head, touching his fingers on her temples and whistled out a slow tune. His magic reached out through the vibration, spreading like colours through water. It snuck between the fibres of her very being, latching onto her mind and attempting to wake her. Fai hadn't even needed a spell. It was like standing on a doorway and reaching out to poke the person standing on the other side of the veil. He was expecting her to jolt awake. What he didn't expect was for her her to push back.

And push back she did. She resisted the poke of magic and instead of recoiling away, her mind gave a mighty shove against his and they in a moment of bewildered shock, Fai felt them both stumble and fall into his side of the doorway, right into the confines of his mind.

 _TBC_

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